The tipping point has been the treatment of Elizabeth College, Hobart, which will be forced into the new system next year, despite staff voting to stay out of it.

Premier David Bartlett had previously said any college that voted to stay out of the system could do so until 2011.

Australian Education Union state president Leanne Wright said she had been contacted by quite a number of teachers in primary and high schools who were "very angry" about the State Government's decisions.

"They expect the union to take a hard line on this," she said.

Branch representatives at each government school will hold meetings in the coming weeks to discuss the problems and possible action with teachers throughout the department.

The AEU branch executive met yesterday and passed a series of motions deploring the Government's decision to force the school to join Tasmania Tomorrow.

Ms Wright also said the offer from Mr Bartlett to Elizabeth College teachers that they could move somewhere else in the department if they did not want to stay at the school was not acceptable.

"They feel like that's a threat," she said.

Ms Wright said the AEU did not want a "like it or leave it" policy to become something that started and was continued in the Education Department.

She said the branch meetings at primary and high schools would be held in the next couple of weeks.

The staff at Don and Hellyer campuses will stop work tomorrow to go to an AEU meeting in Ulverstone, while the Launceston College and Newstead campus staff will stop work on Friday morning.

READ MORE "QUIT" CLAIM: Page 11